Ring twisting



Jam 1951 c. J. GONSALVES' 2,539,950.

RING TWISTING Filed Nov. 23, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l V) INVENTOR ATTORNEY Jan. 30, 1951 c. J; GONSALVES 2,539,959

RING TWISTING Filed Nov. 23, 1949' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 30, 1951 RING TWISTING Conrad Joseph Gonsalves, Arnhem, Netherlands, assignor to American Enka Corporation, Erika, N. 0., a corporation of Delaware Application November 23, 1949, Serial No. 129,079 In the Netherlands December 24, 1948 11 Claims. 1

This invention relates to the art of ring twisting and more particularly to novel methods and apparatus for threading-in ring twisting equipment with a large number of running yarns.

In application Serial No. 116,144, filed September 16, 1949, there are disclosed methods and apparatus for threading-in a ring twister with a single running yarn. This disclosure is adaptable for use with machines for handling simultaneously large numbers of running threads but problems are presented in handling the group of running threads as they are individually and successively led to the ring twisters.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a method and apparatus for the convenient and economical handling of large numbers of yarns for individual threading-in to ring twisting equipment.

According to this invention a single operator can quickly and conveniently thread-in fifty or more yarns that are simultaneously supplied at speeds of from 60 to 100 meters per minute.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description thereof in conjunction with the annexed drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in side eevation of a ring twisting machine equipped with the improvements of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the machine of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic view in side elevation and to an enlarged scale of the feeding device at the left hand end of Figures 1 and 2; and,

Figure 4 is a detailed perspective view showing the steps involved in threading-in a single spindle.

In the drawings the numeral I designates the frame of a single side ring twisting machine prov ded with 24 spindles, five of which are fully shown at H, i2, i3, M'and I5, and the remainder of which are merely indicated by vertical center lines.

A ring frame it serves all of the spindles in common and this frame has rings therein through which the spindles pass. Each ring is equipped with a traveler. Conventional means including a motor i! are used to reciprocate the frame i6 in a vertical plane and to drive the spindles.

The spindles are equipped with the usual braking mechanism by operation of which they can be stopped individually without interfering with the operation of the machine as a whole.

The apparatus as thus far described is entirely conventional and is briefly discussed so that its relation to the invention about to be described can be fully apprecated. The machine frame.

I0 is provided with horizontally arranged guide rods l8, I9, 20, 2i and 22 which extend from the center of the machine to a position overlying the ring frame it. These rods serve to guide a sheet composed of twenty-four parallel yarns across the top of the machine. Below the sheet guides it to 22, inclusive, there are twenty-four thread guides 23 and twenty-four thread guides 29, one each of the guides 23 and 2t lying vertically above. each spindle and functioning a) serve it. The guides 2% function to restrict the size of the thread balloon during twisting while the guides 29 serve a novel function in the threading-in of the device as will hereinafter more fully appear.

Upon reference to Figure 2 it will be noted that the distance of guides 23 from the central vertical plane of the machine decreases from left to right so that the guide 23 at the extreme left is directly above the spindle ii whereas the guide 23 at the extreme right is considerably horizontally offset from the vertical axis of the spindle I5.

In accordance with the disclosure of Application Serial No. 116,144, filed September 16, 1949, a guide 25 is provided at each spindle in a position below the base of the spind e and a plurality of waste collecting spools 26, 21, 28 and 29 are provided near the base of the machine,

see Figures 1 and 4.

Yarns are supplied to the twisting machine in the form of a sheet containing 24 p'arallel yarns. The threads are delivered through a comb 36 to a roller system comprised of rollers 3|, 32 and 93. The roller 32 is provided with a slub-catch ing, suction device diagrammatically indicated in V Figure 1 by reference numeral 34 and more fully shown in Figure 3. The roller 3! is propelled by means not shown to deliver the sheet of threads to the twisting machine. The threads are with drawn from the right end of the twisting 1T1,-

chine through a traverse mechanism '35 to a take-up spool 36. The take-up spool 36 is equipped with a tension control device so that its take-up pull cannot exceed a predetermined value and thread damage will be avoided. A spool of the type which can be satisfactorily used at 36 is disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,046,930 and in application Serial No. 76,515, filed February 15, 1949. A second spool of the type of spool 36 may be provided at 31 and this spool can be adjusted to exert a lesser tension on the threads under conditions when the machine is operated at less than capacity or when,

because of the fineness of the denier, the tension exerted by the spool 36 is too high. structurally. except for the tension adjustment, spools 36 and 31 may be the same.

In operation, the threads arrive at the left end of Figure 1 as a more or less disordered bundle. The operator guides this bundle between rollers 3| and 32 and between rollers 32 and 33, see Figure 3, and then lays it on top of the guiding rods l8, I9, 20, 2| and 22, walking the length of the machine at a speed approximately equal to the delivery speed of the roller system. The end of the bundle is then passed through the traverse mechanism 35 and on to the continuously rotating waste spool 36. The danger of disturbing the course of the threads which results from a quick movement thereof is now temporarily eliminated so that individual manipulations of the yarns can be started. The yarns are therefore individually threaded into the comb 30 which results in the production of a sheet of parallel threads running from the top tangent point of the roller 32 to the traverse mechansim. At the traverse mechanism, some crossing exists and a bundle of cross-wound threads is wound on the take-up roller 33.

The problem which now confronts the operator is that of leading individual threads from the sheet, one at a time, to the twister spindles. It is apparent that since the sheet as a whole is being taken up on the roller 36, the operator can deal with each individual thread without danger of tangling or disturbing the sheet as a whole. At this point the operator catches the thread which is nearest to him as he stands facing the machine as it is shown in Figure l and draws it toward him beyond the ends of the sheet guiding rods I9, 20, 2| and 22. He then places the thread at a position between guides I8 and I3 and leads the running end to the take-up spool 26 at the bottom of the machine. Thereafter he passes the thread through the guides 23, 24 and 25, associated with the spindle The thread is then fixed in the traveler in accordance with the disclosure of application Serial No. 116,144, filled September 16, 1949. After threading up the spindle II in the manner described, the spindle i2 is next threaded and so on through spindles I3, I4 and I5, by which time all of the sheet is broken down and the broken ends have been collected on the roller 36. Since the take-up roller 26 would be quite distant and inconvenient to use with the spindles as the right end of the machine as it is viewed in Figure 1, the operator uses the nearest take-up roller to the spindle which he is serving. If enough take-up rollers are provided they may be used in substitution for the guides 25.

It can be appreciated from the foregoing that thread breakage at any stage during the described operation would create a very serious problem in respect to tangling and to forestall difliculty incident to breakage, the slub-catching suction device indicated at 34, is employed. This device is located immediately to the right of the roller 32 and its interior is connected by a pipe 38 to a collection tank 39. The slub-catching, suction device 34 is provided with a slot at 40 in which a supporting pin 4| is received to support the device for adjustment of its position relative to the roller 32. As can be seen in Figure 2, the slub-catching, suction device extends for the width of the combed sheet of threads and its mouth may be subdivided into a group of narrow parallel suction slots by partitions 42. All ofthe slots so produced communicate with the suction conduit 33. The shape of the suction slots is not itself so important except that they must be so arranged that, upon thread breakage, the broken thread being fed to the machine is immediately sucked into the conduit 38 while the other end of the break is wound on the roller 33.

If the suction slots are 10 millimeters long and millimeter wide, they have been found to operate very satisfactorily. With this arrangements the slots may be 5 or 6 millimeters apart and His not necessary to provide a slot for each thread and yet one is assured that any thread breakage will result in the suction of the running end into the conduit 38. To restore after breakage, the operator takes the running end leading to the conduit 38 and passes it over the appropriate guide rod I8, I9, 20, 2| or 22, and then leads it back through the appropriate guides 23, 24 and 25 and begins twisting as before.

While it has been stated that the threading of an individual spindle is accomplished as described in application Serial No. 116,144, for the purpose of making this application complete in and of itself, the threading of an individual twisting spindle will be described in conjunction with Figure 4 wherein the spindle II is shown to a somewhat enlarged scale.

In Figure 4 the ring for the spindle II is indicated at 45 and the traveler on that ring is indicated at 46. Once the thread path has been established from the guide 24 through the guide 25 to the take-up device 26, the operator grasps the thread running between guides 24 and 25 and inserts it under the ring traveler 46 when that element is in the broken line position of Figure 4. Thereafter he moves the traveler more than ina crosswise direction to the full line position of Figure 4 and then applies the cap shown in Figure 4 and designated by reference numeral 41. The cap fits over projections 48 and 49 on the spindle II and serves to anchor the end of thread running to the spindle. The thread between the guide 25 and the cap is broken and thereafter twisting takes place in an entirely conventional manner.

Upon reference to Figure 3 it will be noted that rollers 32 and 33 are shown mounted in slot-like bearings at 43 and 44. These are for the purpose of facilitating threading-in the group of yarns being led to the twisting machine.

While the specific description of this invention has been concerned with a single sided ring twisting machine provided with 24 spindles, it is quite apparent that the number of spindles is subject to considerable variation and that the machine is well adapted to two-sided construction, in which case the layout of Figure 2 is repeated on the opposite side of the central vertical plane constituting the center of the machine. It is occasionally found convenient to insert additional guiding rods between the rods l8, I9, 20, 2| and 22 and the plane of the guides 23. This and various other modifications of the invention will be apparent from the description which is intend d to be instructive rather than limiting in nature.

What is claimed is:

1. The process of threading-in a ring twisting machine with a large number of running yarns that comprises continuously delivering a plurality of yarns to one end of the machine, leading the yarns as a group to a point of temporary collection at the other end of the machine, supporting the group above the spindles, breaking an individual yarn from the group, temporarily collecting the running end of the'broken yarn at a point below the spindleswhile establishing a yarn path generally parallel to a spindle to be threaded, threading the spindle and thereafter successively applying the breaking, temporary collecting, yarn path establishing and threading steps to all of the threads of the group.

2. The process of threading-in a ring twisting machine of the type having a plurality of horizontally ofiset aligned twisting spindles with a large number of running yarns that comprises continuously delivering a plurality of yarns to one end of the machine in the form of a horizontal sheet, collecting the sheet at the opposite end of the machine while supporting the sheet in a generally horizontal position above the twisting spindles of the machine with the threads running in the same general direction as the alignment of the spindles, breaking the outermost individual yarn from the sheet, temporarily collecting the running end of the broken yarn at a point below the spindles while establishing a yarn path generally parallel to the spindle to be threaded, threading the spindle and thereafter successively applying the breaking, temporary collecting, yarn-path establishing and threading steps to all of the threads of the sheet in inverse order of their distance from the center of the machine.

3. The process of threading-in a ring twisting machine equipped with a plurality of horizontally oifset aligned twisting spindles with a large number of running yarns that comprises continuously delivering a plurality of yarns to one end of the machine, initially leading the yarns as a bundle to a point of temporary collection at the other end of the machine, supporting the bundle above the spindles and in general alignment therewith, combing out the bundle to form a sheet of parallel yarns, breaking an individual yarn from the sheet, temporarly collecting the running end of the broken yarn at a point below the spindles while establishing a yarn path generally parallel to a spindle to be threaded, threading the spindle and thereafter successively applying the breaking, temporary collecting, yarn-path establishing and threading steps to all of the threads of the sheet.

4. In combination with a ring twisting machine including a plurality of spindles and a reciprocable frame having rings therein each associated with a spindle; the improvement that comprises means to deliver a plurality of running yarns to one end of the machine, means to collect said yarns at the opposite end of the machine, m-ans to support the yarns above the spindles between the ends of the machine, three guides associated with each spindle, two of said guides lying above and one below the respective spindle and all of them lying below the yarn supporting means and temporary collecting means below the lowest of said three guides.

5. In combination with a ring twisting machine including a plurality of spindles and a reciprocable frame having rings therein each associated with a spindle; the improvement that comprises means to deliver a plurality of running yarns to one end of the machine, a suction device associated with said delivery means to withdraw broken yarns from the plurality of yarns delivered to one end of the machine, means to collect said yarns at the opposite end of the machine, means to support the yarns above the spindles between the ends of the machine, three guides associated with each spindle, two of said guides lying above and one below the respective spindle and all of them lying below the yarn supporting means and temporary collecting means below the lowest of said three guides.

6. In combination with a ring twisting machine including a plurality of spindles and a reciprocable frame having rings therein each associated with a spindle; the improvement that comprises means to deliver a plurality of running yarns to one end of the machine, means associated with said delivery means to comb said plurality of yarns into sheet form, means to collect said yarns at the opposite end of the machine, a plurality of spaced rods to support the yarns above the spindles between the ends of the machine, three guides associated with each spindle, two of said guides lying above and one below the respective spindle, and all of them lying below said rods and temporary collecting means below the lowest of said three guides.

7. In combination with a ring twisting machine including a plurality of spindles and a reciprocable frame having rings therein each associated with a spindle; the improvement that comprises means to deliver a plurality of running yarns to one end of the machine, means including a traverse mechanism to collect said yarns at the opposite end of the machine, means to support the yarns above the spindles between the ends of the machine, three guides associated with each spindle, two of said guides lying above and one below the respective spindle and all of 'them lying below the yarn path and temporary collecting means below the lowest of said three guides.

8. In combination with a ring twisting machine including a plurality of spindles and a reciprocable frame having rings therein each associated with a spindle; the improvement that comprises means to deliver a plurality of running yarns to one end of the machine, means associated with said delivery means to comb said plurality of yarns into sheet form, means to collect said yarns at the opposite end of the machine under constant tension, a plurality of spaced rods to support the yarns above the spindles between the ends of the machine, three guides asso-- ciated with each spindle, two of said guides lying above and one below the respective spindle, and all of them lying below said rods, and temporary collecting means below the lowest of said three uides.

9. In combination with a ring twisting machine including a plurality of spindles and a reciprocable frame having rings therein each associated with a spindle; the improvement that comprises means to deliver a plurality of running yarns to one end of the machine, means associated with said delivery means to comb said plurality of yarns into sheet form, means including a cross winding traverse mechanism to collect said yarns at the opposite end of the machine under constant tension, a plurality of spaced rods to support the yarns above the spindles between the ends of the-machine, three guides associated with each spindle, two of said guides lying above and one below the respective spindle, and all of them lying below said rods, and temporary collecting means below the lowest of said three guides.

10. In combination with a ring twisting machine including a plurality of spindles and a reciprocable frame having rings therein each associated with a spindle; the improvement that comprises means to deliver a plurality of running yarns to one end of the machine, means associated with said delivery means to comb said plurality of yarns into a sheet of parallel yarns, means to collect said yarns at the opposite end of the machine, a plurality of spaced rods to support the yarns above the spindles between the ends of the machine, three guides associated with each spindle, two of said guides lying above and one below the respective spindle, and all of them lying below said rods, and temporary collecting means below the lowest of said three guides, the guides of the uppermost group of said three groups of guides being disposed in horizontal spaced relation along a line that is convergent with the line of the yarns running between said delivery and collecting means, the spacing of the yarns and the guides of the uppermost group being such that adjacent threads of the sheet intersect adjacent guides.

11. In combination with a ring twisting machine including a plurality of horizontally spaced 8 spindles arranged in a straight line, a reciprocable frame having rings therein each associated with a spindle; the improvement that comprises means to deliver a plurality of running yarns to one end of the machine, means to arrange said yarns into a sheet runing parallel to the line of spindles, means to collect said sheet at the other end of the machine, a plurality of spaced rods to support the sheet between the ends of the machine in a position above the spindles, a first group of thread guides arranged in a line at an angle to the direction of the running sheet with one guide lying directly below each yarn of the sheet, a second group of horizontally spaced thread guides, one for each spindle, said second group lying in a line below the guides of the first group but above the spindles and in parallelism therewith, a thread guide below each spindle and temporary collecting means below the spindles.

CONRAD JOSEPH GONSALVES.

No references cited. 

